Ten years ago Doctor Who returned to television and DWM is celebrating with four very special covers!

Ten years after the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) grabbed the arm of Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) and told her to “Run!”, Doctor Who is still going strong, as one of the greatest TV success stories of the past decade. Doctor Who Magazine celebrates this milestone with a special commemorative issue that comes with four different covers, each one featuring one of the twenty-first century Doctors – Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi!

Inside the issue, we look back on the show’s success, with contributions from writers Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, Robert Shearman, Paul Cornell, Toby Whithouse, Gareth Roberts, Chris Chibnall, Peter Harness and Jamie Mathieson, as well as from BBC Head of Drama Commissioning Ben Stephenson, who gives his view on the future of Doctor Who…

Last week, Cisco finally learnt Harrison Wells’ secret; Barry revealed his identity to Iris; Joe put himself in non-essential danger (again); and Flash discovered if he ran fast enough, he could travel through time.

At the end of last week’s episode, Flash found himself a week in the past, raising the question of how his trip back in time would effect the timeline. (more…)

Starting today is a kickstarter for the new series of Strangeness in Space: a comedy sci-fi audio adventure from Trev & Simon, Sophie Aldred & Clare Eden. It will be free to download and is suitable for kids aged 8 to 80, and beyond….

What would happen if Sophie, the manager of a NASA Space Centre gift shop, and Trev and Simon, two idiots claiming to be a 1980s styled synth pop duo called Pink Custard, were thrown together with a stressy computer robot called LEMON on board a damaged space craft, lost in a distant universe, orbiting Planet Mirth?

The latest issue of Panini’s The EssentialDoctor Who is devoted to the Doctor’s most dangerous opponent: the Master!

Over 116 pages of all-new material, the latest issue of The Essential Doctor Who examines every Master story – from Terror of the Autons to Death in Heaven – and profiles the actors who have brought the villainous Time Lord to life. (more…)

So the Dark Eyes 4 box set is with us – and as such the franchise is finally closed, with the four-story narrative neatly (and sometimes not so neatly) wrapping up this, and other, Big Finish story arcs.

The writing credits are jointly shared by BF alumni Matt Fitton and John Dorney, with Fitton also showrunning and defining the arc.

The series opens with Dorney’s A Life in the Day: Liv and the Doctor are in London, being chased by alien assassins for unknown reasons, and tying up with the Donaldson siblings, who may be hiding more than they admit. For me this is possibly the best of the bunch. Without giving too much away, ALitD provides a new angle on an old SF trope, and its an extremely interesting one. It asks questions of the genre that have generally been left unasked before, namely, what does it feel like to be the one the, um, don’t want to spoil, the one the thing isn’t happening to in the relationship, and for this reason alone it makes the boxset worth the asking price. Of course, there are many other reasons too… (more…)

After a month-long break, Flash returns with a packed episode. Given that the show has already been part of a crossover with Arrow, had a strong mid-season finale, and given a two-part introduction to another superhero, it’s perhaps surprising that there’s so much in this episode. Of course, in line with the lead character’s ‘thing’, the show has not been slow to bring in new elements, and this episode hits us with several big deals, culminating in a blast of awesome. And we’re still quite some weeks away from the finale. (more…)

It may only be episode 15, but a lot has happened this season. After departing at the end of last season, Sara Lance returned to Starling City only to be murdered. This then became the driver behind pretty much everything that’s happened since then.

One of the defining elements of this show has been the parallel storytelling of contemporary Starling City and Ollie’s life 5-years ago. For the first couple of years, the flashbacks dealt with his time on the island, with season 3 transplanting the flashbacks to Hong Kong as Ollie was forced to work for Amanda Waller as part of her covert team.

This week turns it around, with the flashbacks taking Ollie back to Starling in 2010, looking in on the characters at a time before we first knew them, and where they were still grieving the loss of Oliver. Oh… and there’s wigs… a lot of wigs! (more…)

Last week, we left the Flash racing Caitlin away from the site where the fused Firestorm is about to explode with a nuclear blast. Of course they outrun the explosion, which turns out to be the energy released by the fission of Ronnie and Professor Stein. Perhaps not surprisingly, given their enforced conjoining, Stein and Raymond tend to snark at one another, though the chemistry between the two ensures it remains mild.

A late arrival to last week’s episode was General Wade Eiling, whose intent is to use meta-humans and meta technology to create an army of super soldiers. His previous attempt with Plastique didn’t go so well, so he’s keen to succeed with Firestorm.

Like last week’s Arrow, this episode had a lot more going on than normal, and felt a little crowded in parts. However, with a hiatus coming up, it gives us a lot to take away and ponder. (more…)

Whilst comics may drive the initial creation of tv shows, the need to ground it within a real world, together with the building of its own mythos means that it doesn’t take long for a series to move away from its roots. Every so often, there is a moment when the show figuratively takes a breath in order to clear out some of the overhanging plot elements.

Last week, Arrow had reached one of those points – Oliver had returned from a battle to the death with Ra’s al Ghul; Laurel was running around hitting criminals with a stick as the Canary replacement for her dead sister whilst allowing (and actively encouraging) her father to believe Sara was still alive; everyone knows Oliver is the Arrow with the exception of Thea. (more…)